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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pop — soda
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. court — of law
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. perch — the fish
  11. face — to point toward
  12. court — for sport
  13. face — part of the head
  14. pop — music
  15. face — to confront
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. pop — to visit
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cold — an illness
  23. court — of a king
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com